Boost Your Holidays with B Vitamins

They’re critical for mood, stress, and energy. Here’s how to support your body during the holidays (and all year long) with the Bs you need.

- By Lisa Turner

No matter how healthy your diet, holiday excesses can take their toll. Stress, sleepless nights, sugary foods, and extra alcohol consumption deplete nutrients, especially B vitamins—crucial for energy, metabolism, and brain function—leaving you feeling drained, moody, foggy, and fatigued.

As a group, the eight B vitamins (see sidebar) are critical for a variety of physiological functions. B vitamins play a role in cell growth and division, metabolism, red blood cell formation, neurotransmitter production, immune function, and DNA repair. And some B vitamins are crucial for nervous system function, brain health, and mood— especially important during the stress-filled holidays. Low levels or deficiencies of certain B vitamins have been linked with an increased risk of depression, irritability, and mood problems, and several studies suggest that optimum levels of B vitamins—especially folate, B12, and B6—enhance mood, lower stress, and improve quality of life.